itcs-submission

name	itcs-submission
description	Use when auditing an ITCS submission for HotCRP readiness — the early-September abstract-then-paper deadlines, single-column >= 11pt format with no hard page limit, the first-10-pages merits window, complete proofs of all central claims, the lightweight double-blind sweep, and the archival-prior-publication check.

ITCS Submission

Run this audit before uploading to the ITCS HotCRP site. ITCS papers publish open access in LIPIcs and are reviewed lightweight double-blind with no rebuttal, so the submitted PDF has to be complete, self-defending, and correctly anonymized on the first and only try. Every rule below was read from the ITCS 2026/2025 calls on 2026-07-09 via search renderings of the itcs2026.hotcrp.com and itcs-conf.org URLs (see ../../resources/official-source-map.md); treat them as a one-cycle snapshot and reopen the live call first.

The two-step deadline

ITCS separates the abstract/registration from the full-paper submission, and the abstract cutoff is earlier:

• Abstract / registration locks title, abstract, authors, and conflicts (ITCS 2026: 4 September 2025, 7:59:59 PM EDT). The abstract drives PC bidding — register the real title and abstract, not a placeholder.
• Full-paper submission uploads the anonymized PDF with complete proofs (ITCS 2026: 6 September 2025, 7:59:59 PM EDT). Miss the registration and no submission slot exists.

Format and page policy

• Single column, font size at least 11 point. Beyond that, the submission call imposes no hard formatting template and no hard page limit (the LIPIcs lipics-v2021 class is a camera-ready requirement, not a submission one — see itcs-camera-ready).
• First-10-pages merits window. It is strongly recommended that the first ~10 pages give a clear presentation of the paper's merits, significance, innovations, and place in the literature. Reviewers judge the idea from this window; do not bury it (see itcs-writing-style).
• Complete proofs of all central claims must be included, in an appendix if needed. "Proof omitted" or "see the full version" for a load-bearing claim is a substantive defect, not a formatting one (see itcs-supplementary).

Lightweight double-blind sweep

ITCS anonymity is lightweight: hide the authors in the PDF, but keep the references honest and allow a public full version. The leak surface is narrower than an empirical venue's (no code, no data), but real:

# Mechanical pass on the submission PDF
pdfinfo paper.pdf | grep -Ei 'author|creator|producer'     # scrub metadata identity
pdftotext paper.pdf - | grep -nEi 'thank|acknowledg|grant|supported by|our (previous|prior|earlier) (work|paper)' | head
pdftotext paper.pdf - | grep -nEi '\\bwe (previously|earlier) (showed|proved)\\b' | head

• Remove author names, affiliations, emails, and acknowledgements/funding lines from the PDF.
• Neutralize first-person self-reference: rewrite "in our prior work [12]" as a third-person "[Author, YEAR] showed." Do not anonymize or remove the reference itself — the reference list stays intact (see itcs-related-work).
• A public arXiv/ECCC/ePrint full version is allowed and encouraged; you need not delay it for anonymity. Just keep the submitted PDF blinded.

Prior-publication and dual-submission check

• The result must not be published, presented, or under submission at another archival conference. Papers accepted to ITCS should not then go to another archival conference.
• Simultaneous submission to a journal is allowed — a distinctive ITCS latitude; a journal version in parallel is fine.
• Confirm the exact current wording each cycle; the archival/non-archival boundary and any workshop carve-outs are cycle-volatile.

Desk-risk triage

Finding at audit time	Severity	Real fix
Central claim lacks a complete proof	Substantive reject-grade	Add the full proof (appendix); do not defer to the preprint
Merits not legible within ~10 pages	High	Restructure so model+motivation+results come first
Author identity in PDF metadata/acknowledgements	Anonymity violation	Scrub metadata; remove acknowledgements/funding
First-person self-citation ("our prior [12]")	Anonymity leak	Rewrite in third person; keep the reference
References anonymized/removed	Breaks the lightweight rule; reads evasive	Restore normal citations
Abstract/authors not registered by the earlier cutoff	No submission slot	Nothing fixes this post-deadline — calendar it now
Result already at another archival venue	Dual-submission violation	Withdraw or reroute; journal parallel is OK
Font < 11pt or multi-column	Formatting non-compliance	Recompile single-column, >= 11pt

Final-week order of operations

1. Freeze the model and definitions early; proofs can be polished, the framing cannot churn.
2. Register title/abstract/authors/conflicts before the earlier registration cutoff.
3. Run the proof-completeness pass: every central claim fully proved in the PDF.
4. Run the mechanical anonymity checks on the final PDF (metadata + self-reference).
5. Post the full version to arXiv/ECCC/ePrint if desired (allowed); keep the submission blinded.
6. Fill every HotCRP field — topics, conflicts for every coauthor's institution and recent collaborators — a day early; late conflicts are the classic midnight failure.
7. Re-download the uploaded PDF and read the first 10 pages cold to confirm the idea lands.

Reverify each cycle

• The two cutoff dates and their timezone (EDT/AoE).
• Whether the current call still runs no rebuttal and lightweight double-blind.
• The exact prior-publication/dual-submission wording and any generative-AI-disclosure rule.
• That there is still no hard page limit and the 11pt/single-column format holds.

Output format

[ITCS submission status] ready / blocked / needs work
[Registration] title/abstract/authors/conflicts locked by the earlier deadline? yes/no
[Format] single-column, >= 11pt? merits legible within ~10 pages? yes/no
[Proofs] every central claim fully proved IN the PDF (not only the preprint)? yes/no
[Anonymity] metadata clean, self-cites neutralized, references intact? yes/no
[Prior publication] not at another archival venue (journal parallel OK)? yes/no
[Fix queue] <ordered, with owners and dates before the early-September cutoff>